Taylor H Lunsford

Announcing “The Confucian Classics: A New Translation”

Confucius said: “I am not worried that others do not know of me. I worry that I do not know others.” After taking a hiatus from translation work for most of this past year, I am excited to announce my next project: a complete, original translation of the classic Four Books of Confucianism! In East Continue reading
Adventures in Self-Publishing

Last week, I wrote about my experiences with traditional publishing and the reasons why I became interested in self-publishing. But when I looked into self-publishing, what did I find? In my writing, I have a few main goals. For one, I like to write about topics as I learn about them, because the act of Continue reading
Why Do I Self-Publish?

I published my first book, The Myth of the Thucydides Trap, in July 2024 through Amazon Kindle Publishing. But this decision came after almost a decade of pushing on the door of traditional publishing. The inspiration to write a book first hit me sometime in 2014, when I was a young soldier studying Mandarin Chinese Continue reading
War in the West, Peace in the East- The Long Confucian Peace and Europe’s Warring States Period

The early modern era, from the 16th to the 19th century, was one of the most violent and unstable in European history. But over the same period, East Asia experienced centuries of peace between the major nations of China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. The contrasts between Europe’s era of warfare and upheaval and East Asia’s Continue reading
These Scholars Agree: the Thucydides Trap is a Myth

Last year, I wrote The Myth of the Thucydides Trap, criticizing the dominant narrative that the US and China are caught in a “great power transition” that is very likely to end in war. As I was worked, I felt confident that I was writing what many international relations experts already thought but hadn’t yet Continue reading
The AI We Wanted vs The AI We’ve Got

Artificial intelligence promised to free us from work and give us more time for our relationships and our passions. So far, it’s doing the opposite. Since Meta launched their standalone AI app just over a month ago, huge numbers of users have asked the chatbot their most personal questions about health, finances, relationships, and more. Continue reading
Does “Abundance” Live Up to the Hype? – A Book Review

Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson’s “Abundance” opens with a compelling vision for the future. In this future, green energy is so abundant that it’s practically free. Superabundant energy unlocks a superabundance of everything else- efficient vertical farming and lab-grown meat have abolished food scarcity, while AI and automation have raised living standards even while drastically Continue reading
What Caused the Great Divergence?

Starting sometime since 1500, Europe and its colonies began to pull far ahead of the rest of the world in terms of income, technological progress, and global power, in a process that scholars call “the Great Divergence.” But why exactly did the Great Divergence happen? What caused the West to pull ahead? Thinkers around the Continue reading
Available Now- The Art of War: A New Translation

My latest work, The Art of War: A New Translation, is available for purchase now! For more than two thousand years, Sun Tzu’s Art of War has been consulted by leaders and strategists seeking guidance on life’s most difficult choices. This fresh translation of the traditional Chinese text faithfully reproduces Sun Tzu’s concise, straightforward prose for today’s readers, Continue reading
Announcing The Art of War: A New Translation

I am pleased to announce my next published work- an original translation of Sun Tzu’s Art of War! This classic text of military strategy was composed more than two thousand years ago but remains one of the most influential and widely-read books in the modern world. I’ve drawn on my expertise in ancient Chinese thought Continue reading